good morning. out of gas. for the first time in decades, gas rationing begins today in new jersey amid long lines and flaring tempers. while across the river, the new york city marathon is cancelled after officials came under fire for planning to run a race as people here are struggling to survive. we've got it all covered live. three days and counting. president obama and governor romney make their final appearances in battleground states as we inch closer to election day. this morning, the results of our new polling in the states that just might decide this election. and, welcome erica. say hello to the newest member of the "today" family, my new

co-anchor erica hill. we can't wait for her to get started today, saturday november 3rd, 2012. >> from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today," decision 2012. with lester holt and erica hill. live from democracy plaza. and a big good morning to everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt here on democracy plaza, our home for nbc's election coverage, all the way through tuesday. but i am right now pleased to welcome my new co-host erica hill. great to have you here. before we get started, there is a bit of a tradition we like to do to welcome you folks. jeff, please. >> and erica hill. >> that has a nice ring to it. i'm not going to lie. >> when you heard the -- your heart beats. >> it's true, that music. someone asked me what are you most liking forward to in that

first day? i said one of the things i'm really excited about is hearing that music in my ear. it's a big moment. it's really an honor to join this program. >> you're in a great place and we are thrilled to have you. and we'll hear more about you a little later. >> i'm a little worried about everything you'll learn about me, but hopefully you'll stay with us. we do have a lot to get to. we are covering two big stories, of course. there is the countdown to election day and the aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> right now, this region is still reeling, but starting to make progress five days after hurricane sandy hit. today, gas rationing begins in new jersey, while people across the eastern seaboard are still trying to pick up the pieces. if they can get gas to move somewhere. can it be done? can new york city do anything to avoid ending up being under water again? we've got it covered. also, important tips for you on how you can clean up from the storm and make sure you're ready before that next big one comes along. >> later on, some of new york's most famous natives held a

telethon for hurricane sandy victims. matt lauer was the host. bruce springsteen, jon bon jovi, and billy joel helped raise money. we'll show you some highlights. >> it was quite a show. we are also live on the campaign trail as president obama and governor romney crisscross the country with just three days to go now until election day. with the race neck and neck, we'll take a look at how hurricane sandy and friday's job numbers could affect the race. we want to begin with the aftermath of hurricane sandy. we have complete coverage for you this morning from the clean to -up to the gas and food lines. we begin with the cancellation of the new york city marathon for the first time in its history. stephanie gosk. >> reporter: new york has been holding the marathon since 1970. this is the first time it's been cancelled. but since the moment mayor michael bloomberg said it was going to be cancelled, the anger

started to grow. it was just among the victims, it was also their public officials, a number of them, and even runners themselves that were beginning to feel and worried that some of the researchers critically needed in this city would be diverted, but on top of that, that this would lack sensitivity. the race itself started in staten island and winds through all five boroughs. staten island is perhaps worst hit by this storm, with more than 20 people killed. they are still pulling bodies out of some of those homes. it's still a recovery there. and houses have been levelled. now, it finally hit a tipping point, mayor bloomberg said all along that he wanted the city to get the $340 million it brings in and he wanted this event to unify the city. he said it was not doing that. his office released the following statement. he said "we would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, so we have decided the cancel it. we cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event, even one

as meaningful as this, to distract aattention from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track. so relief today for some of those critics, but it will be short-lived because this city still has a lot of recovery to do. erica? >> stephanie gosk, thank you. three and a half million homes and businesses are still without power along the east coast this morning. while the power will slowly return, it will take a lot longer for residents and places like staten island to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. michelle franzen is there for us. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. those pieces are big. as you can see behind me, some of the damage here in staten island from these big boats tossed along the water, slamming up into homes, to inland where sandy's surge and forceful winds wiped out homes and flooded areas, as many as 500 people are estimated to be living in shelters here in staten island. many of them also feeling

forgotten or overlooked for days following sandy, saying they needed desperate supplies. those arrived in big form yesterday in the form of fema, red cross, and the national guard moving in with that much-needed aid after days of criticism. janet napolitano promised that there would be more aid flowing in and a lot more help. meantime, across new york's harbor to lower manhattan, the power is slowly being restored to areas that have been darkened all week since sandy's storm moved in and subway surf vis is slowly coming back online after the tunnels were flooded. and all around jersey's shore, new york's governor chris christie -- new jersey's governor chris christie is warning folks before they go back home of the devastation they may see and many of the homes they are hoping to get to may not even be there. once again, here's erica. >> if you want food or gasoline

in the northeast, you should be prepared to wait in line. lines that are sometimes miles long. katie is live outside a gas station. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you are going to wait and wait and wait. we are on 44th street here in manhattan. the line yesterday reached all the way down to 14th street. you cannot even see all the cars that went down from here. 26 new york city blocks. this morning, it is much of the same. new jersey, you're seeing the same sort of lines that go on for miles. what does everybody want? they want gas. the lines are long and open gas stations are few and far between. new york and jersey sites are searching to find those open stations and when they do, they've got to act fast. >> they said this station was moving real fast, and we came over. >> reporter: and thanks to some political muscle, help is on the

way. >> we understand why there was a shortage. the harbor is now open. there should be a real change in condition and people should see it quickly. >> reporter: while governor cuomo and homeland security secretary janet napolitano are waiving rules to get more tanker deliveries, new jersey governor chris christie is working on getting power to the pumps. >> we need to do much better. and so today, i've assigned the head of the economic development authority michelle brown to work with the private sector and fema to get the problem moving. >> reporter: one more thing in short supply, blood. the red cross is urging everyone to donate. and other than a few moments of frustration -- >> ask that cabbie why he cut the line. >> reporter: patience isn't in short supply just yet. >> considering there's a catastrophe all around us, got to do what we've got to do. stay patient. >> reporter: so far, so good with the patience.

over in new jersey, governor christie is trying to alleviate it by starting to ration the gas. if you have an odd numbered license plate you can get it on an odd number day. if you have an even number license plate, you can get it on an even number day. what does that remind everybody? the jimmy carter days in the '70s when there was a shortage. here it really is a shortage of power. guys? >> katy, thank you. now to the race for the white house with election day just three days away, president obama and governor romney are making their final arguments to voters this weekend. we have correspondents following both campaigns and want to begin with kristin welker in minter, ohio. kristin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, lester. it is really no surprise that president obama is kicking off the weekend here in ohio. this state is really key to his midwest firewall. if mitt romney doesn't win ohio, it is very unlikely that he will hold on to the presidency. according to our latest nbc news

"wall street journal" marist poll, president obama has an honest lead here in ohio. let's take a look at the latest numbers. according to our poll, president obama has a six-point lead in the buckeye state, which is unchanged from last month. he's gotten high marks after hurricane sandy with seven in ten voters approving of his handling of the storm and he has a slight edge when it comes to handling the economy. 48% say mr. obama would do a better job compared to 46% who side with romney. on friday, mr. obama made a three-stop blitz here in ohio, staking his closing argument on the auto bailout, which is widely popular here. and which republicans oppose. he also slammed romney for claiming that jeep is shipping jobs to china. it's a claim the romney campaign defends that has been widely discredited. take a listen to what president obama had to say. >> the car companies themselves have told governor romney to knock it off. gm said we think creating jobs

in the united states should be a source of bipartisan pride. and i couldn't agree more. >> reporter: now early voting has begun here in ohio with 35% saying they've already voted early or plan to do so. obama is leading among those voters 62-36%, but romney is up among election day voters 52-42%. the fact that president obama has a number of planned visits here in ohio before election day suggests that the obama campaign is not satisfied that they have locked down this state. as for the president's state of mind, david axelrod said the president is exhilarated and that his stump speech is "coming from his loins." lester, back to you, and i want erica to the nbc family. >> kristin, thank you. it's great to be here. we also want to check in now with peter alexander joining us from newington, new hampshire. peter, good morning.

>> reporter: adding my voice to that chorus, of course, welcoming you here today. we are in new hampshire where mitt romney is going to kick off this day after an exhaustive 18-hour day friday. listen to his schedule. he starts here in new hampshire, heads to iowa, to colorado, back to iowa, then to ohio, to pennsylvania, and virginia, and then he sleeps tomorrow night in florida. that's just the next 36 hours. the real priority right now for the romney campaign is trying to drive upturnout for their candidate last night. governor romney was greeted by his largest campaign rally. there were about 30,000 people in ohio, including a lineup of top republican leaders. this is what the campaign referred to as the closing argument over the course of yesterday, effectively indicting president obama's record. he said the president promised change but didn't deliver it. he said he is promising change but has the record to achieve it and he referred to his campaign as a movement. >> it's the depth of our shared conviction, our readiness for

new possibilities, the sense that our work is soon to begin. it's made me strive more to be worthy of your support. >> reporter: so now governor romney is going to move across the country. he does have a challenge ahead of him here. while most of the races are tight, one of the critical races is the battleground state of florida. as you see now, governor romney trails the president by two percentage points. romney and his team are confident right now, though, that they're going to win this thing. >> peter alexander, thank you. as we just mentioned, peter laid out those numbers for you in florida. the latest nbc news "wall street journal" marist poll also shows the state of ohio where president obama has a six-point lead over governor romney. as we take a closer look at those numbers, we're joined by chris matthews, the host of msnbc's "hardball" and john harwood, cnbc's chief washington

correspondent. good morning to both of you. nice to have both of you here this morning. chris, as we look at these numbers, as peter just laid out for us, the romney campaign is really trying to drive upturnout at this point. if those numbers hold with our polling in ohio, is there a path to victory for mitt romney without ohio? >> well, who knows. i think ohio is probably going to go for the president. i'm looking at pennsylvania. i think they haven't spent the time there. romney is going into this weekend -- they think they've got an outside chance at pennsylvania. i don't follow all this theory that it all comes down to ohio. i do think there are a lot more states in play. watching these things and make predictions about presidential election for so long and i always go with one simple principle. look at the numbers on thursday and project the direction they're going in. the direction right now, although it's mild, is definitely going towards obama. so he will be better off on monday and tuesday than he is right now. i really think that's the strongest thing to look at. i think romney's got a problem with his dishonest ad --

objectively dishonest about jeep. his opposition to the existence of fema. his opposition to the bailout of the auto industry. these are objective facts he has against him. and pretty good job numbers on friday. put it all together with governor christie collaboration this week with the president and you see an effective president looking like a good president this week. and i think that's the last big picture the voters are going to see. >> chris brought up the auto bailout, which we've heard so much about during this campaign. if the president does win a second term, could governor romney's op-ed from four years ago end up being a deciding factor as you look back on this election? >> the significant factor, i don't know if it's deciding, but you look inside the polls in ohio, you can see that barack obama is in a lot stronger shape with blue collar voters in that state than he is with blue collar voters elsewhere in the country. why is that? part of that is because of the auto bailout, because they hammered it so hard, because

romney was on the other side, and also because the obama team made a decision very early on to go after mitt romney on bain capital, on his business experience, capitalize on his wealth and investments and try to make the case that he's not one of us, and it's been very effective. i don't know if that message comes from obama's loins or from his brain, but it seems to have been working so far. >> good to speak with both of you this morning. it is time now for a check of the morning's other top stories. we're happy to say that jenna wolf will be joining us on saturdays as well as sundays. she's at the news desk this morning. >> good morning to you guys. two penn state administrators face charges. gary schultz and tim curley were arraigned on friday. sandusky, the school's former assistant football coach is serving a minimum 30-year prison sentence for sexually abusing

ten boys. an iraq war contractor has been fined $85 million by a jury in portland, oregon. veshl the verdict came in the case of a dozen soldiers who developed respiratory problems. kbr has been ordered to pay each of the soldiers about $7 million in damages. the pentagon has released more details to the military response to the september assault in benghazi. two teams of special operations forces deployed from central europe and the united states, but the attack that left the u.s. ambassador and three other americans dead had ended before they could get there. u.s. officials are trying to refute news reports that say the cia told its personnel to stand down. the true that will decorate the grounds of the u.s. capital for the holidays is being prepped for its trip to washington. the 73-foot spruce was harvested friday from white river national forest in colorado.

crews will take two days wrapping the tree before it makes its way east. most of the transportation costs are being paid through private donations and sponsored. and in another holiday sign, the tradition is back in full force. butter ball has opened its annual turkey talk phone line. people can now call 1-800-butter ball to ask questions or get cooking advice from experts through december 24th. the company has provided the consumer help line every holiday season since 1981. the most popular question asked of the hotline. i have the turkey -- now what? that's the news. now back to lester and erica. >> thanks. dylan dreyer now with a check of your weather. >> the last thing the east coast wants to talk about is another storm, but we are watching for the potential of a big storm moving in wednesday and thursday, so right after the election. there are some variations in the different computer models, but both of them keep this storm

close to new jersey and close to new england as we go into wednesday night and into thursday as well. this is going to be another rainmaker. also potential problems across the eastern seaboard because we don't really have a whole lot of beach left. and any rise in the surge could create more problems. that's a look at the weather across the country. now here's a peek out your window. >> good morning. this is what sun rise looks like over the city. look at the blue sky. we might see more sun during the day but there will still be some clouds. breezy on the chilly side. we'll only be in the low >> and that is your latest forecast. lester? >> thanks. back now to the aftermath of

hurricane sandy. new york city still under water. how can it be prevented from happening again? richard engel has that story. good morning. >> reporter: this could be a wake-up call for people to start seeing that infrastructure is national security. for the last ten years, the united states has made its national security priority spreading democracy to towns most people have never heard of in iraq and afghanistan. we've spent over a trillion dollars. we're still spending about 3$30 million a day to do that project. as new yorkers are finding themselves without a home and infrastructure is taking such a beating, maybe people are going to start to ask, is there a better way? new york city, surrounded by water. and now partly under water. the perspective you get from up here is that this is going to take weeks, maybe months. it isn't over yet by a long

shot. there's still water down there now? >> yes. we have water almost up to the mezzanine here. >> reporter: at the tip of manhattan, the south ferry subway station is simply out of commission. from where we are at the top of this water, the top of the flooding, to the very bottom, how deep is this? >> i would say we have about 20 feet to get to the platform. >> reporter: 20 feet. and the tunnel connecting manhattan and brooklyn now holds 40 million gallons of water. blame it on a freak storm, climate change, or both, these are problems new york has never had before. some say they can be prevented from happening again by building sea walls, levees or gigantic surge barriers. oceanography professor malcolm bowman. in the netherlands, following a storm in 1953, the government

built an extensive series of storm surge barriers. >> if we had such barriers in place during hurricane sandy, there would have been no damage at all. >> reporter: this animation show what is a barrier in new york harbor might look like. if a surge was coming, 25-foot-high gates would drop, and then swing shut to block the water until the danger had passed. >> the surge is completely blocked by the system. >> reporter: but boman's idea would take years of study and cost about a third of the estimated cost of rebuilding after sandy. and lester, other countries are doing major infrastructure projects as part of national security. china is putting in about 10,000 miles of high speed railway. turkey and istanbul are building new tunnels and airports. it is potential the united states can do this. we're just spending our money on other things. >> this is going to spark the

conversation, though. >> hopefully this will be part of the debate. still to come, we'll take you inside a hurricane war room. but this isn't fema or the pentagon. it's home depot. you'll see how they and their biggest competitors move supplies to the areas that need them most. but first, this is "today" on nbc. so, maybe you're trying to figure out question seven.

well, let me give it a shot. if you're ok with marylanders spending five hundred and... fifty million a year gaming in other states, fair enough. but if you think we should keep that money here... add twelve thousand jobs, and generate millions for schools... well you should probably vote for question seven. because if it doesn't pass, all of this goes away. that's why the post called seven, common sense. but decide for yourself.

still to come on "today," the power of mother nature. how hurricane sandy reshaped u.s. coastline. plus, what you need to know to get ready for the next storm. all those stories still ahead. but first, these messages. >> good morning everyone. i'm jennifer franciotti. the time 7:25. we want to get you up to date on the morning's top stories. city police are investigating the sexual assault of a female

jogger in fells point that they say her attacker held her at knife point friday morning. the woman in her 20s went for a run alone between the hours of 5 and 6 and that's when they say a man wearing a ski mask and armed with a knife grabbed her, pulled her into a dark area and sexually assaulted her. >> the good news is there's a lot of surveillance video in that area. lot of businesses. lot of residents that have networks. detectives have footage they can comb through to possibly identify an attacker or capture the incident. >> police are urging joggers especially those who jog alone at night to find a jogging buddy. authorities in wisconsin are questioning a university of baltimore graduate after an incident at the same temple where six people were killed over the summer. according to police, joel corbett was seen with a backpack. while he told police that he wanted to pray for them after the august massacre, they found

several boxes of ammunition and an empty gun case with a notebook inside his backpack. they also discovered writings about the colorado movie shooting spree, as well as crime scene tape. a real life scare at a haunted attraction in baltimore county. reports started coming in after 9:00 but we're told hazmat crews were called to the crypt on eastern boulevard in essex. a small amount of formaldehyde spilled and that caused six employees to be take ton the hospital for observation. we're back in a minute with a look at today's foreca

>> good morning. we have a few scattered clouds around here. the rain makers, snow makers are up in the north. lake effect snow up in new york state, little bit in the mountains of pennsylvania, couple showers around cleveland. just scattered clouds around us. current temperatures, chilly this morning but not unusually chilly for this time of year. at the airport, 43 degrees. humidity 60%. west/northwest wind at nine. the breeze will pick up today. the barometer 29.96. been fairly steady at that reading. for the past couple days a little bit on the low side. here are the scattered clouds around here. what's left of sandy still spinning up near labrador. that will result maybe in a couple snow flakes in the mountains to the west. otherwise a mix of clouds and sun today. perhaps we'll see a little more sun than we have seen. temperatures expected to be in

the low to mid 50s for high. >> thanks for joining us. another update in 25 minutes. see you then. there's not a problem with your television. that's exactly what parts of new york city look like in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. the lights went out suddenly, and for days, it was very, very dark. only a hint of light in places. in some ways, it really became a tale of two cities. there was the dark downtown and well-lit uptown. for millions, it's been far worse. we'll have much more of that for you throughout the morning. we are back on this saturday morning, november 3rd, 2012. i'm erica hill along with lester holt. coming up in this half-hour, more on that aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> we've seen all the devastation from this storm. it could potentially change the landscape of the u.s. coastline.

that's how much of a beating the coast took. we're going to get more on that in just a few minutes. also, if your home was damaged, we have some tips on rebuilding. and also, we're going to have you take the proper precautions to stay safe when that next storm arrives. a bit later we'll switch gears with a lottery story that's a little tough to believe. a woman that had a winning ticket in her glove compartment didn't even know it. >> she knows it now. >> yes, she does. we all know it. >> it's a great story. let's begin with the road to recovery after sandy. across the country, everyone from electric workers to local charities are rushing to help folks here in the northeast. but few companies are mobilizing quite like the country's largest home improvement chain. gabe gutierrez takes an inside look at home depot's war room. >> reporter: in haslet, new jersey, home depot 926, relief has arrived. >> it's great.

it's a great feeling. >> reporter: this new shipment of generators is devoured in just a few minutes. >> so much relief. as of right now, we have no idea when our electric is coming on. >> we have a sick baby and we're trying to take care of the baby. >> reporter: so how does a company move millions of dollars in merchandise to a storm-ravaged area? >> we've basically been going around the clock. >> reporter: the journey begins more than 800 miles away in suburban atlanta. here in this command center. or what the home depot likes to call its war room. >> awesome, awesome, awesome. >> that's exactly the way you want to think of it, as a war room. we've got folks here 24/7 focused on making sure that we get the right goods to the right place at the right time. >> reporter: about 350 people in several rooms, actually, take emergency orders, monitor news reports and social media, and figure out how to stock stores in ravaged communities. doug spiron says the company has

already spent more than 5,000 truckloads since last tuesday. >> there's a high level of urgency. >> reporter: of course the people in this room aren't the only ones facing a logistical nightmare after sandy. other private companies and federal agencies across the country are working overtime. lowe's, home depot's biggest competitor, the also on the move, sending more than 1,500 trucks to the northeast. elsewhere, the georgia national guard has launched 20 members and two helicopters. >> this is what we train for. >> reporter: and at fema's distribution center in atlanta, they're putting their severe weather experience to good use. >> in the southeast, we have so many disasters that we're just accustomed to doing this. >> reporter: back at home depot's headquarters, they're also used to it. from this war room, they fight a battle of logistics, bringing relief -- >> yea! >> reporter: one generator at a time. for "today," gabe gutierrez, nbc news, atlanta. time now for another check of the weather from dylan

dreyer. >> today's weather is brought to you by windows 8. >> thanks, lester. a big group of girls here from -- >> ohio. >> and you're from. >> ashland, kentucky. >> i thought this was big enough, but over here is the rest of the group from kentucky. thanks so much for coming on down to new york. sorry it's a little bit chilly. there's a lot going on here in the city. we are look at some really cool temperatures. unfortunately, you know, with so many people out of power, we're not just talking about temperatures in the 40s. we've got windchills down in the 30s. it has been exceptionally cool around here. and temperatures will be staying below average. unfortunately, through the rest of the weekend into most of next week. and looking ahead into next week, it is going to take until thursday and friday before temperatures start to get just slightly below normal. so we will still stay below normal heading into friday, but it does look like temperatures are not going to warm up any time soon. speaking of kentucky, we do have some rain that talk about with

showers out that way. t >> in ocean city this is what sun rise looked like. really pretty. just a few ways out there. we should see more sunshine. high temperatures in the low 50s. and for the latest on your weather, of course you can always check online at weather.com. and it's saturday. that means tomorrow night is "sunday night football" night in america. we're talking about a dome game, at the georgia dome. but the outdoor weather looks cloudy and mild as the cowboys take on the falcons. but it's all about what happens indoors for "sunday night football" night in america.

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as millions of people try to recover from sandy, scientists are studying the damage done to u.s. beaches. in some areas, the landscape could be forever changed. here's kerry sanders. >> reporter: for many people, the destruction caused by hurricane sandy will change their lives forever. >> to see these homes disappear like this, it's heartbreaking. and we know it will never be the same again. >> reporter: but beyond the massive destruction we can see, there are changes that are less evident. changes that resculpt and reshape the coastline, sometimes in profound ways. >> one of the lasting legacies of this hurricane from hell could be accelerated beach

erosion. i wouldn't be surprised if we lose ten, 15 feet of beach front along the coast of the united states. >> reporter: you can see the damage in newly released photos from noaa. here's what it looks like now, a much different scene, devastating for people who live here. just days ago, this was a popular shoreline amusement park, until sandy moved the shoreline, and hundreds of homes that used to be beach front were swallowed up as the atlantic ate away the beach. and then there's this on fire island. mother nature resculpted the coast, and in the process, you can see portions of the road collapsed. over the years, fire island itself has gotten bigger and smaller. >> somewhere in this area was the end of fire island. this over the years has built up. >> reporter: now we see mother nature maybe taking some of it back. >> maybe. >> reporter: scientists say you have to go back to the big hurricane of 1938, the one they called the long island express, to find a storm as catastrophic

to this area as sandy. that hurricane was so severe, it actually changed the look of long island. and it's now happened again. >> if you walk down the long island coastline, all that you see is massive washovers, massive amounts of water taking away massive amounts of sand. >> where does it go? >> it goes back into the atlantic ocean. it one point, it may be deposited somewhere else. the ocean geologists will have to determine that. at one point, we may see it again somewhere else. >> reporter: for now, experts say what's gone is lost. for "today," kerry sanders, nbc news, fire island, new york. >> hard to imagine some of that. up next, no matter where you live, how you can be prepared when another big storm hits. that's right after this. ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm...99 bushels of wheat! ♪

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this morning on "today," the cleanup after hurricane sandy. you're facing a huge cleaning job, you may be wondering on how to get going on your recovery. >> george oliphant can help. >> folks want to get right to it. what are some of the things they can keep in mind? >> safety first, always. you want to make sure you have a good set of rubber boots. maybe sure that you're wearing the proper masks. this is a mask just to make sure you put it on correctly, too. and a lot of times people will leave one of these dangling. you want to make sure you're protecting yourself from any of the bacterias or molds or mildews that are flying in the air. first and foremost, you want to protect yourself while you're doing the cleanup because you want to get in there, start ripping the dry wall out,

getting the old furniture that's sopping wet out. because you don't want more mold and mildew and stuff growing in your home. >> there's a little bit of concern before you jump in there and start ripping everything out, because you're waiting on the insurance, right? and it's going to take a while. so what do you need to do before you slap on your boots? >> what i've been hearing from insurance companies is what we don't want it to get any worse. so definitely take a lot of pictures. document everything. make sure that whatever happened to your house, you have proof of. and then start getting your couches out. start ripping out the old dry wall that's sopping wet that's in your basements, maybe on your first floors depending on how bad you've been hit. curtains. anything that's going to soak up water, you want to get it out of your house, bag it up and get it thrown away. >> food is a huge issue if you've lost power. you brought a cooler here. what's the best way to use a cooler to preserve your things? >> basically, you want to make sure that you have ice in there, of course, and make sure that -- we put a thermometer in our

cooler to make sure it was staying below 38 degrees. magic. >> 38 degrees, because we want to make sure feeding our kids -- eggs, milk, dairy, we want to make sure it's safe. the rule is after 24 hours, freezer 48 hours. once it's without power for that long, you want to get rid of it. >> even if it feels cold. stuff in our fridge felt cold even 48 hours after. >> i know there's the look test. >> smell test. especially with the milk. >> when in doubt, throw it out. but also, the taste test. if it tastes funny, spit it out. the last thing you want to add is sickness and food poisoning to everything else that's going on. i just said err on the side of caution. >> as you're looking at what to do for next time, because we're hearing there could be another nor'easter coming our way. much of the country could see another storm later this year.

what are some things we should stock up on? >> it sounds silly, and i know a lot of people after the storms last year were like i'm going to get a generator, and all of a sudden comes sandy and they're like i never got a generator. i know they're a thousand dollars, $3,000, you don't need that. you can get away with a $200 generator, something that will keep your refrigerator going. >> this will not run a whole house, though. >> but you have to prioritize. what do i want to run? my refrigerator. or i might want to run my sub-pump. if i start getting water in my basement, i have a generator to start getting my sub pump going. >> i want to charge my cell phone. >> these are great for that. you can charge it up off another generator. and basically, you can charge your cell phones, your laptops. we use it to plug a nice lamp in. >> our power came back last week. give me your cell phone. >> i'll send it home with you. >> but it's amazing. first and foremost, you don't want to have candles or kerosene

lamps going around your house because of the fire dangers. this is an l.e.d. lamp. it's fantastic. >> those batteries last forever. we have one we bought for irene that we didn't use. we're using it a lot now. three aa batteries, it's going nonstop. >> have ever different size of battery you can. aas, aaas. >> this is a rare commodity right now in the new york area. the d battery. >> we could make a lot of money off that battery. >> there's a line forming as we speak for those batteries. >> as you're getting ready for hurricane and you're like oh, my gosh, my radio. it takes cs. take those steps, make sure you have the right battery so that when the power does go out, you have everything you need. >> this is a big help. there will be other storms and people will lose power so thanks for this important advice. >> and the last thing is have a ready bag with water, food, and a radio. so worst case scenario, you get flushed out of your house, off few things that help you last 72 hours. >> thank you, george. good to see you.

just ahead, something we haven't seen since the '70s. gas rationing here in the northeast. we'll tell you more about that in a moment. but first, this is "today" on nbc. so, maybe you're trying to figure out question seven.

well, let me give it a shot. if you're ok with marylanders spending five hundred and... fifty million a year gaming in other states, fair enough. but if you think we should keep that money here... add twelve thousand jobs, and generate millions for schools... well you should probably vote for question seven.

because if it doesn't pass, all of this goes away. that's why the post called seven, common sense. but decide for yourself. we should start this conversation, we are all fine. a few have lost power. last week, i went the virginia to do the story on battleground state and ended up -- thank goodness i brought my rubber boots because i ended up on hurricane duty down in virginia beach. >> you could go to the caribbean -- you could go to the bathroom and you'll end up on hurricane coverage. i've never seen anything like it in my entire life. >> i don't know how this happens. erica, you were without power. >> we don't have power. although we're really lucky, because we do have a fireplace. and luckily my mom is about 90 miles away. she and my uncle dick tracked in a bunch of wood for this. my children are just napping, though.

it's fine. they brought us some wood. we don't have power. but we do have a fireplace and a gas stove so we can cook. a lot of people much worse off. although it's getting chilly. >> have you been faring? >> i've been faring. i sometimes get made fun of by you because i'm in the nosebleed section of manhattan, which is the upper west side. lester makes fun of me most of the year. but we were fine on the upper west side. i was up in westchester doing a story on these generator problems that folks are having. if you have a generat, you will host. these become the most popular guys on the block. that's a really small generator, but some of them are a little bit bigger. >> but it still counts. >> they still had a lightbulb going. >> i'm very lucky. i never lost power. i'm in midtown right now. carlson's corner on the jersey shore just wiped out. that's always where i went. >> we're back after this. crisp. two delicious crisps. for 100 calories. so you'll never have to break up with your sweet tooth again. what will you gain when you lose?

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like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. good morning everyone. here's a look at sonl of our top stories. maryland voters turned out in record numbers friday on the final day of early voting. voters in baltimore city

reported wait times at polling sites from 45 minutes to three hours or more. as of 8:00 an estimated 92,000 people voted and an estimated total of 415,655 or more. >> the numbers have been really good. we did more the first day than we did in early voting of six days of the primary election. so citizens are coming out voting. lot of first time voters are coming. >> hurricane sandy forced officials to shut down voting. state added additional day. that meant only one less hour of voters over all. keep up with the presidential campaigns using our smart phone app. you can find a voters guide and review of the state's seven referendum questions ton ballot. before you head to the polls search 2012 and download it on your smart phone. family and friends bid a final

farewell to a sailor shot to death in the south baltimore area while on leave for fr the u.s. navy. they gathered friday morning for the funeral service of the 24-year-old. family members say gladden had just received a promotion in the navy. investigators say he and his younger brother were delivering groceries to their grandmother when two men opened fire, killing gladden. so far no arrests have been made. we're back i

>> gmgm. a quick look at that time radar. there are snow showers up in new

york state and pennsylvania. rain showers should be in cleveland. off the great lakes. we're dry down here. let's look at the situation cloud wise. few scattered clouds here and there made for a beautiful sun rise. these are clouds coming off the great lakes. what's left of sandy up near labrador. getting this northwest flow which holds temperatures down. and giving us enough moisture to produce some of the cloud deck. our forecast today weshing eel probably see more sun breaks. going from partly cloudy to more generous sun in the afternoon and clouding up again this evening or at least more cloudiness. temperatures will break into the low 50s for highs. about the same that we have seen. we don't have any rain in the forecast until the middle of next week. >> thanks. thank you for joining us. we'll have another update in 25 minutes.

welcome back to "today," saturday morning, the third day of november, 2012. a great crowd in the plaza waving hello to friends and family back home. our thanks to them for spending part of their saturday with us. i'm lester holt here with erica hill. you got an hour under your belt. feels good, right? >> it feels great. i'm going to stick around for another one, if that's all right. >> stick around a few weeks. it's great to have you. >> thank you. hurricane sandy's aftermath. in parts of new york and new jersey, people are waiting in long lines for hours to buy gas. now there are new rules to hopefully ease some of that frustration. across the river in staten island, people in that hard-hit

area are finally seeing pockets of hope amidst the devastation. after days of controversy and increasing pressure, new york city's mayor has now called off this weekend's new york marathon. we have complete coverage for you in just a few moments. helping people in those storm-damaged communities was the focus of a telethon broadcast by nbc friday night. native new yorkers christina aguilera, mary j. blige and billy joel were among the headliners. we'll have more on that and we'll let you know how you can still help. it is just three days until election day, and president obama and governor mitt romney are making their closing arguments to voters. the election could come down to just a few battleground states, and ohio is at the center of it all. our team is standing by to crunch the numbers for you in just a few minutes. >> and we've all purchased lottery tickets and basically forgot about them without ever checking the numbers. a california grandmother did the same thing and got a big surprise just in the nick of time. her story is coming up. >> love those story sms. we begin this hour with the

dropping temperatures and rising temperatures as people go without power in the northeast. katy tur is live. hope everyone is behaving. >> erica, they are behaving so far. but there is always questions on how long that will last. we're at a station on 44th and 10th. at its peak yesterday, the line stretched down to 18th street. you can't even see how far they went down. that's 26 new york city blocks, which is a remarkable time to wait for gasoline. today it's much of the same. i can't see how long that line goes. it also stretches to 11th avenue. over in new jersey, much of the same. lines that are miles lock in some cases. people waiting for hours on end. the they're not running in to the gas station on fumes, they are literally being pushed by the people behind them because they have completely run out of gas. that's why governor christie has instituted some new rules to try and alleviate some of those

lines. now they're going to start rationing gas. if you have an even numbered license plate, you can only get gas on even numbered calendar days. he's hoping that will help take off some of the pressure out there. back here in new york, the ports have been open and the restrictions have been lifted so that there's more gas to get in here. at its core, though, this isn't a gas shortage, this is a power issue. a lot of these stations still don't have any power so they can't pump any of their gas. that's why you're seeing these incredibly long lines at these certain stations that are open. other than gas, the red cross is asking anybody that can to donate blood. they do hope that anyone who can will give bachelor's degree when they can. erica? >> katy tur, thank you. here's lester. about two and a half million homes and businesses along the east coast remain without power this morning. that's down from a peak of eight and a half million. while things are slowly returning to normal for some

people, for others, help can't come fast enough. michelle franzen is in staten island. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. staten island suffering the highest death toll and the severest damage. these boats tossed around like toys, slammed into homes and hundreds of people now displaced and living in shelters, upset that help didn't arrive soon enough. just one of the areas up and down the east coast now trying to cope with sandy's aftermath. desperately needed aid rolled into staten island. >> thank you, fema. >> reporter: fema, red cross and the national guard finally on site. it followed days of outrage and pain in new york city's hardest hit working class community. >> you need to come here and help us. we need assistance. please. >> reporter: homeland secretary janet napolitano got a firsthand look at the devastation, promising immediate help for the hundreds now displaced and living at local shelters.

>> staten island took a particularly hard hit from sandy, so we want to make sure that the right resources are brought here as quickly as possible. >> reporter: in new jersey, governor chris christie offered a more sobering view of the long road to recovery for the shore communities battered by hurricane sandy's wind and surge. >> my first job is to get your life back to as normal as it can be. that's all about getting power back on, getting gas at the gas stations, getting your kids back in school, and making sure that we have clean water for them to drink. >> it looks like it's coming back on. >> reporter: in new york city's darker lower manhattan, the power is slowly returning. >> thank you. we're happy, right? we're back to work. >> reporter: along with subway and ferry service. at gas stations, frustrations grew along with the long lines due to fuel shortages. friday, tankers full of gasoline moved into new york's harbor to ease the pain at the pump.

>> how are you, ma'am? you okay? >> reporter: meanwhile, communities are coming together, handing out donated food, clothing and other supplies, crucial comforts for those now forced to start over. and back here on staten island today, residents will have a chance to pick up some donated items, not only from red cross, but also from the community that's coming together, and many people that have crossed the bridge to this isolated island to give what they can. this year's new york city marathon is over before it ever got started. new york's mayor cancelled it two days before runners hit the starting line. stephanie gosk is in central park with more on that. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this is the first time in the new york city marathon's 40-year history has ever been cancelled. extraordinary circumstances. since the moment that mayor michael bloomberg announced it was going forward, anger began

to build, not just among the victims of hurricane sandy, but also their public officials and even some runners. it finally hit a tipping point. in a city devastated by this storm, holding a road race through five battered boroughs finally just seemed like the wrong idea. >> the marathon ceased to be about running and it was all about how best to aid new york city. >> reporter: it was a decision that left some runners disappointed. >> i feel for all the people that have problems, but you don't pull the plug at the last minute. he could have made that decision days and days ago. >> reporter: but many city residents relieved. >> i think there's a thin line between demonstrating resiliency and being insensitive. >> reporter: the reversal came as a surprise. mayor michael bloomberg had defended his decision to hold the new york city marathon on sunday, a race that had never been cancelled in its 40-year history. >> new york has to show that we

are here and that we're going to recover, and give people something to cheer about. >> reporter: but far from cheering, many new yorkers had been angry about the possibility of diverting city resources at a time of suffering. police, sanitation workers who may have been needed elsewhere. >> they'd rather have a marathon and give the water to people running than the people who need it that don't even have house light or heating. >> reporter: food, water and porta-potties had already been trucked on to the course. enough generators to power 400 homes were standing by, while many new yorkers were still in the dark. the outrage of it all had been building for days, especially on staten island, the hard-hit borough where the race was to begin. >> the city of new york right now is prepared for a marathon. we're pulling bodies out of the water. you see the disconnect here? >> reporter: instead of holding a press conference, the mayor released a statement.

it reads, "we would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it. we cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful fernandez this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track." so there will be some relief for people that criticized the marathon, but it will probably be short-lived. the city has a lot of recovery to do. erica? >> that's for sure. stephanie gosk in central park, thank you. once again, here's lester. turning now to the neck and neck race for the white house, what role will hurricane sandy and the latest jobs numbers play in the election? peter alexander is traveling with the romney campaign. he joins us from newington, new hampshire. peter, good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning. this is finally the final stretch, the 72-hour sprint. for mitt romney, a short time from now, it's going to begin right here in new hampshire. over the next three days, these two campaigns are going to hit nine states combined. some of them more than once.

there is one thing this morning that both sides agree on. that is that this is all about driving upturnout, getting more of their voters to the polls. greeted by his largest crowd all campaign and a lineup of top republican leaders. >> mitt romney understands the leadership of the united states. >> mitt romney is going to be tough on terrorists, and he will call it for what it is. >> no obama! >> reporter: in ohio friday night, mitt romney tried to stoke his supporters heading into the campaign's final weekend. >> at obama rallies, they're saying four more years. we have a different cry, of course, what is it? >> reporter: coming on his get out the vote efforts, president obama is also zeroing in ohio where he's hosted more rallies, 23, more than any other state. >> that's why i need you, ohio. to make sure their voices are heard. to make sure your voices are

heard. we've come too far to turn back now. >> reporter: where do things stand? a new nbc poll shows the president leads governor romney among likely voters in ohio by six points. in florida, mr. obama is clinging the a two-point advantage. on friday, both sides tried to spin the final jobs report before election day. it showed 171,000 new jobs last month. even as the unemployment rate ticked up closer to 8%. >> we learned that companies hired more workers in october than at any time in the last eight months. >> we learned that it's actually 7.9%, and that's nine million jobs short of what he promised. >> reporter: governor romney will be here this morning. the president will be here tomorrow. mitt romney will be back here on monday. gives you a good sense of just how close this race is. it remains a dead heat with four electoral votes in this state, it's yet another one of the

places that neither one of these campaigns can afford to let go. >> chuck todd is nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, lester. >> 50 states, but this campaign is dunn to just a handful of them. read the map for me. tell me where they're going. >> you know, i think the map is a better way to look at this campaign than the numbers. look at president obama's map here, and look at the state of ohio. these are all the states, he's going to visit seven of them in the next three days. ohio looks like an airline hub for air force one. it's as if he's got to change planes before he goes to virginia or florida or iowa or wisconsin. he's got multiple stops that will take him to iowa and wisconsin. i'll explain that in a few minutes, but it's all part of his midwest firewall. mitt romney's schedule also as busy. yes, you see two stops in ohio over the next three days. but look at this one here, lester. pennsylvania. it depends on who you talk to. some say it's an insurance policy for the romney campaign

because they're worried they can't win ohio. others say it is him trying to get his 300 electoral votes, show that he's got momentum, show that he has got something in this race that could take him much farther than this narrow path to 270. >> polls start closing at 7:00 on the east coast time. what will you be looking at as a bellwether? >> half the battleground has polls closed at 7:00. this is all the polls that close before 9:00 p.m. a couple of things. i look at virginia, 7:00 p.m., and florida. if you believe mitt romney is narrowly ahead in both of those states, how quickly do we call them? does he win virginia by two or three points, florida by two or three points? if that's the case, it's likely we're close to calling those states by 9:00. now, look at ohio. a poll closing at 7:30. if the president has a three, four, five-point lead like these polls show, that's a state we'll be calling a lot earlier. but then i say keep an eye on

pennsylvania. if we haven't called it by 9:00, if we're still in a too close to call mode, lester, that tells you maybe romney's having a pretty good night. >> and as we watch these swing states come together here, each candidate really has a legitimate path to victory, correct? >> they do. and i wanted the show you sort of what i would call the easiest paths, if you will, for the two of them. for the president, it's pretty simple. if you look at his campaign schedule, it shows you they believe it's simple. ohio three times. and he goes to wisconsin twice. if he just wins those two states, look at his number there. he's sitting at 271. that would mean he could lose florida. he could lose virginia. he could lose colorado, which, by the way,ic is goi i think is be the closest of all the states on election night. he could win new hampshire and iowa. if romney did all this, by the way, that's the one piece of good news for mitt romney. this is his path without ohio. look at this. if he wins paul ryan's home

state, he has a way to get to 270 without ohio. they don't think that's going to be easy because they think wisconsin is going to be very difficult. they think iowa is going to be very difficult. and there's still some question about new hampshire. and if that's the case, and you look at those numbers this way, then ohio becomes incredibly crucial to mitt romney. he would need florida, virginia, ohio, and colorado to get to 275. >> what i read in all that stuff, is that those of us who will be working election night will need to get some sleep. it's going to be a long night. >> people ask me how long is election night going to be? i say it's going to be a long month. >> yeah, we'll see you thursday. good to talk to you. thanks very much. time now for a check of some of the other stories this morning. jenna wolf is at the news desk. >> an american student has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a fellow student in rome. more now from duncan golestani.

>> reporter: authorities took this man into custody hours after he allegedly stabbed a friend after halloween partying. his lawyer says he is distraught and describes reed as a 20-year-old kid who has never had a run-in with the law. fabio is hospitalized after suffering multiple stab wounds. both men were students at an american college in rome. >> they were best friends. they are best friends. i hope they still are. >> reporter: a bizarre coincidence, this attack happened on the fifth anniversary of the murder of british student meredith kercher, which led to the arrest and eventual acquittal of american amanda knox. investigators in this case said the motive is unclear, but suspect drugs and alcohol might have been a factor. for "today," duncan golestani, nbc news, london. two penn state administrators have been charged with covering up the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal. gary schultz and tim curley were

both arraigned on friday. they were accused of caring more about the university's reputation than the safety of sandusky's victims. most americans will be able to get an extra hour of sleep tonight thanks to the annual shift back to standard time. officially, the change occurs at 2:00 a.m. sunday. b but most people will set their clocks back before they go to sleep. this is a good time to change batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. prince charles and his wife camilla got quite a welcome. they were given a traditional greeting by -- let's just go ahead and say it. topless women who presented them with leis. no additional comment necessary on that one. the 13-day tour of the southern hemisphere is part of queen elizabeth's diamond jubilee. that is the news. now let's get a check of the weather from dylan. >> today's weather is brought to you by windows 8. >> thanks, jenna. we are here with a big group from the netherlands.

they cheered for me when i came out. i knew they must not have been from around here. you guys were going to run in the marathon, but you are offering your services now? >> yes, we are offering our services to help here. >> that's wonderful. so many people need help, especially in the new york city area, so thank you for that. and we are talking, unfortunately, about another storm, and it looks like wednesday night into thursday would be the timeframe. these are two different computer models. you can see that one goes towards new jersey, one goes right up into new england. so we're looking at strong winds. the potential for some heavier rain. we don't have a lot of beach left, especially in new jersey, so flooding cub an issue even with a minor storm surge. it does look like we could end up with another couple inches of rain. >> good morning. this is what sun rise looks like over the city. look at the blue sky. we might see more sun during the day but there will still be some clouds. breezy on the chilly side. we'll only be in the low

and that's your latest forecast. lester, erica? >> still to come, we'll help you get to know erica a little better. but first, these messages. nut s has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. to make just about anything delicious. introducing new jif chocolate flavored hazelnut spread. whatever you put it on... reaches a whole new level of deliciousness. choosy moms choose jif.

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did you guys see jimmy fallon last night? he started by singing with a backup band that wasn't too shabby. steven tyler, bruce springsteen and billy joel singing backup at the concert. it didn't end there. >> later, jimmy and his house band the roots joined christina aguilera for an improvisational round of her song "the body." no instruments, just some office supplies 678. ♪ open the box >> it's pretty cool. they should record it. >> they did. they did. you're right. too sure. [ laughter ] we'll have more on the concert ahead.

i've always been lucky. flew 37 bombing missions over germany. made it home every time. i'm lucky to have good friends who are all still around, and we're all lucky to have a friend named ben. ben's protected our medicare and veterans' benefits. and he's helping my 13 grandchildren afford college. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i'm honored to approve this message.

we are back with more of "today" right after this. [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 layers of whole grain fiber in those mini-wheats® biscuits... to help keep you full... ♪ 45 bushels of wheat on the farm. 45 bushels of wheat! ♪ ...all morning long. there's a big breakfast... [ mini ] yeehaw! ...in those fun little biscuits. too bad the guys aren't here we're clear. ok, swarm! swarm! hello [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. let the making begin >> good morning everyone. i'm lisa robinson. city police are investigating a

sexual assault of a female jogger in fells point. they say her attacker held her at knife point early friday morning. detectives say the woman went for a run alone between the hours of 5 and 6. that's when a man wearing a ski mask and armed with a knife grabbed her. pulled her into a dark area and sexually assaulted her. >> the good news is that there is a lot of surveillance video in that area. lot of businesses. lot of residents that have surveillance networks. detectives have footage they can comb through to possibly identify an attacker or even capture the incident. >> police are urging joggers especially those who jog at night and alone to find a jogging buddy. authorities in wisconsin are questioning a university of baltimore graduate after an incident where the temple were six people were killed. according to police, joel corbett was seen visiting the temple. he said he wanted to pray for them after the massacre. they found several boxes of

ammunition and a notebook inside his backpack. they all discovered writings about the colorado movie theater shooting spree as well as crime scene tape. a real life scare at a popular haunted attraction in baltimore county last night. reports started coming in after 9:00. we're told hazmat crews were called to kim's crypt on eastern boulevard. authorities say a small amount of formaldehyde spilled causing six employees to be taken to the hospital f

>> good morning. we have a little sun trying to break through the clouds today. satellite showing scattered clouds around the area especially east of us on the eastern shore. winds coming off the great lakes. that cold air over the warm waters generating showers in cleveland. couple snow flakes in pennsylvania. snow shower activity or few rain drops still mixed up in western new york state. this is all still circulating around what's left of sandy labrador. these winds combined with high pressure funneling this colder air down over our area. that won't be changing much over the next few days. flow of air, chillier than usual temperatures. our forecast today calls for highs in the 40s. low to mid 50s around the area. little more sun than yesterday. couple couple snow makes out in far western maryland. as far as the time change is concerned, let's not forget if you have to set your clocks back one hour. that's tonight at 2:00.

so that you're on time tomorrow. 50s in the seven day forecast except for during this storm which we expect about wednesday and thursday. then going to be rainy, windy and chilly. >> thanks, john. thank you for joining we are back on this saturday morning, november 3rd, 2012. thanks for creating this crisp, fall weather. i'm erica hill along with lester holt, jenna wolf and dylan dreyer. still to come today, we have a great story of rags to riches. >> i think this is my favorite story of the day. it's about a grandmother who buys a lottery ticket, forgets about it, shoves in her pocket or a drawer someplace. doesn't realize she's a millionaire when she's struggling to pay the bills. the fact is, she's sitting on some cold hard cash. we'll tell you more about her story coming up. >> not some.

a considerable amount of cold hard cash. then a big benefit concert here last night at nbc. some very big named stars were out to raise money for the victims of hurricane sandy. two of new jersey's favorite sons, bruce springsteen, jon bon jovi joined billy joel and christina aguilera among others. we'll fill you in on the rest of the a-listers that made their way down here to raise money. a bit later on, we're going to find out a little bit more about the newest member of our weekend team, erica hill, from erica's secret talents. there's your secret talents. and what she was like growing up. >> my friend jamie may no longer be my friend after she sent that video in. >> great hair. just wanted to point that out. >> thank you. >> wanted to make you feel welcome. before we can get to all of those embarrassing, fun moments, dylan is here with another check of the weather. >> talking about the breeze, the chill in the air, unfortunately in areas where we do have the power outages, temperatures will

be staying below average. we have some rain to talk about through tennessee. we are going to see some snow showers through dakotas as well in. the northeast, it is going to be chilly, staying chilly across the northeast, areas without power, about ten degrees below average tomorrow as well. some showers start to move in in the southeast, and that is part of our next storm that looks to make its way into the mid-atlantic region possibly by wednesday into thursday. so that is certainly something we're keeping an eye on as cleanup efforts >> in ocean city this is what sun rise looked like. really pretty. just a few ways out there. we should see more sunshine. high temperatures in the low 50s

>> a little bit about me. i am german. that's my dad's side is german. so i recognize the language here on this sign. and you said your german teacher is watching? >> yeah. it says that i'm in her class. >> that's extra credit right here. guaranteed a-plus for your german class. for the forecast any time, of course, you can always go to weather.com. and today is saturday. tomorrow is sunday. and it is football night in america. it's an indoor game, but outside, the weather is looking cloudy and mild as the cowboys head to the southeast to take on the falcons. as we look at your forecast for sunday night, football night in america. indoors and outdoors. lester, jenna, erica? we've all bought a lottery ticket. maybe more than one. maybe tucked it away, you never

checked the number. one california woman did the same thing. with days to go until the jackpot expired, she almost lost out on not just a few dollars, millions of dollars. >> jenna is back now with more on this story. hey, jenna. >> here's the deal. julie went from rags to riches literally overnight and she found out about her fortune in a very unusual way. for the past five months, julie has been driving around with $23 million in her glove compartment and she didn't even know it. >> i've got, like, 200 tickets laying around. >> she does. >> the los angeles mother of five who lived on disability for 20 years and struggles financially pulled into this california store back in may after her daughter complained she felt car sick. >> she's like, get me a lottery ticket. i was like no, no, no. i'm just getting water. >> after she insisted her daughter get the ticket, she threw it in her glove compartment and forgot about it. with time rung out before the

ticket expired, lottery officials published a grainy surveillance video of a woman in a blue shirt and dark pants thought to be the mystery winner. >> oh, my god, it is me! it just clicked. i did buy a lotto ticket. >> the two sisters called their mom and told her to watch the video. >> and it was charlena. i thought she robbed a bank. >> but she was about to get the shock of her life. >> and it said she won, and i was like no way. >> first stop, the glove box. >> so we went back and there it was right there. >> she says she'll opt for the lump sum of $23 million, and after treating her children and grandkids to disney land -- >> i have two special children in my life that i adopted as a widow. and a big portion is going to them. so when i'm gone, they'll be okay.

>> so what's the lesson here? sure, you can buy a ticket. sure, you might actually win. but you will never win if you don't actually check the numbers after you bought the ticket. >> i was commenting earlier. when you find a $10 bill in an old pair of jeans. this kind of moment. times $22 million. >> for lester, finding a ten dollar bill in his pocket is like this woman winning $23 million. it's just as exciting. no, i totally gree lagree. >> you can buy a couple starbucks. jenna, thanks. up next, stars coming together. >> every cent counts. we appreciate anything. that i ce for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation,

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some of the biggest names in entertainment came together friday night to raise money for the victims of hurricane sandy. >> those with roots in new jersey like bruce springsteen and jon bon jovi joined new york natives christina aguilera, mary j. blige, billy joel and others. >> and sarah haynes is here with more. >> hi, guys. many who are from this area came together for this incredibly heartfelt effort on very short notice.

♪ i am beautiful >> reporter: staten island's own christina aguilera kicked off the star-studded fundraiser to help those hit hard by sandy. >> here in new york city, hundreds of thousands of people sit tonight in darkness. >> reporter: organized in part by our own matt lauer. the benefit was put together quickly while the spotlight remains on the devastated areas. >> knowing how much those people out there have already been through over the last ten years, you start to think why do we ask these people to deal with so much? i decided the make the call the next morning. >> growing up on the jersey shore as a short jewish -- sorry. >> reporter: among those who answered the call, brian williams and fellow new jersey native jon stewart. >> i think that's my line. >> reporter: kidding aside, backstage stewart says sandy literally and figuratively hit home. >> and so now it's our house. it's a strange feeling to kind of swallow your pride a little

bit. because even to say it like hey, man, we need help, it's not an easy thing to do. ♪ just a hometown boy born a rolling stone ♪ >> reporter: themes for the night ranged from nostalgia to defiance. ♪ so glad the worst is over >> reporter: and resilience. ♪ question start building now >> reporter: all with the single goal that fans open their hearts and their wallets. >> when a celebrity gets up and says please, will you help a victim of a storm, the public who adores them transfers that adoration to reaching in their pocket and helping. >> reporter: artists and celebrities standing side by side to help the places they call home.

and the giving won't just stop with last night's airing. as awareness of concert builds over the internet and by word of mouth, experts believe that people will continue to donate. >> that's was very cool. what a lineup. >> it was amazing being stuck in a hallway. so often when we do production, it's one group. when you see that many people come together, you're watching duck springsteen duck under a boom. it truly was indicative of it takes a village. >> and put together in just a couple days. sarah, thanks very much. if you'd like to help, you call 1-800-help-now or text the word "redcross" to 9099 to make a donation. up next, we get to know erica a little better.

this morning, we're welcoming erica hill as the new co-anchor of "weekend today."

we're happy to have her join us and thought this would be the perfect opportunity for you to get to know herbert, so we invite you to take a look. >> for me, this is the pinnacle of morning television. it's the "today" show. and one of the things that i love most about morning tv is it's a mix of news and fun. and i think that's who i am as a person. >> why are you bag on the panda? >> get everybody in shape. >> growing up, she was a little bit of a wise guy. i remember she was 2 years old and i said you stay in bed and don't you get out of that bed again. and i turned around and she said hey, mom. and she went -- to me. that was what she did to me. >> i don't have any good secret talents. although i do do a mean fish face, which i've done since i was a kid. so prepare yourself. >> i had a fifth grade christmas party one time, and we're downstairs in my basement, and

erica jumps in front of the camera and starts doing this dance. she's always commanded the attention of the camera. from day one, you knew she was destined to do great things. >> i remember growing up with her and just constantly being together. >> heather and i driving around with a billy joel tape in the car, listening to "only the good die young." playing the song and stopping it and playing it. ♪ don't make me wait i told you i couldn't sing. >> something about erica that nobody would know would be that she had spiked hair and a mullet. >> i would actually like to clear this up. it wasn't a mullet. i mean, there was a party going on in the front. but it wasn't a mullet. >> it was a mullet. >> happy halloween, little monsters! >> erica really is the person she presents to the world. >> when i think of erica on tv and off tv, there's not really

any difference. the only difference is hair and makeup. let's be honest. >> hey, i'm in love. >> i love you, too. this is going to work out very well. >> we got married in october of 2005. ♪ unforgettable that's what you are ♪ >> i did meet my husband at work. >> i was a stage manager. >> he tells that story better than i do. i like it when he tells it. it's cute. >> i ran by this glass booth that they set up for erica. and i literally stopped in my tracks. it was kind of a lightning bolt moment. weston will be 6 in november and sawyer is 2 1/2. i think she does an incredible job balancing a demanding career with raising a family. ♪ i see trees of green

>> i really look up and admire both of my parents. they taught me allhose things that i hope i can instill in my kids. kindness, honesty, and empathy. my dad's big thing was just never lie to me. >> the last few years of his life was extremely difficult. he had neck cancer. >> he was one of the bravest people i ever met. he really taught me to appreciate the little moments in life. because you never know when they're going to go away. >> there's been times when something exciting would happen and she would call me up and the first thing would be oh, i wish dad was here so i could tell him. >> the first time i filled in for katie, my dad had just passed away and i was so proud that night, but also because i knew how proud my dad would have been. you know, there's this great thing you can do on your cell phone plan where you can just kind of keep it as an emergency phone, so we call to hear his voice. so i called his phone just to say hey, pops, just got off the set, and this time i wasn't an intern.

i love breaking news. and i always will. >> we begin with the latest on some of day's biggest stories. some incredible news coming out of iraq. >> but if it's a story that i have a little time to work on, i love telling stories about people. people who you've probably never heard of before, but who have a story that inspires me or i hope will inspire someone else in some way. i'm extremely proud. >> i think that "weekend today" is very lucky to have her as a new anchor. >> she's a hard worker. she's dedicated. >> nbc is getting an exceptional talent, but more importantly, an exceptional person. >> watch out, nbc, because you've got your hands full. >> it's the "today" show. i'm really excited. i'm humbled at the chance to sit in that chair. >> wow, first day and you have some tears, nice.

>> myself in tears, too. thank you to mary carr who put that together, one of our producers here, who i have the privilege of working with a second time. and to my friends and family who sat down with that. >> we're hoping to get to meet them, your family, as well. and you're part of our family now. can we get a show of hands here, mullet or no mullet? >> that was a mullet. >> it was like a lion's mane. i like to think of it as the statue of liberty. >> it was statue of liberty-esque. >> showing my patriotism. and fine makeup skills there. >> we'll be right back. but first, these messages.

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a little chilly out here, isn't it? we're delighted to have you here. this is probably the coolest place on earth to work. >> i think it is probably the best job in the world, and i have to tell you, it feels really good to be here. so thanks for having me. >> of course. welcome. >> i love being here. >> as many years as i've been out here, i walk here and it's 30 rockefeller plaza. it doesn't get old. >> just wait for the tree. once that christmas tree goes -- >> everything is going to change around here. >> i'm ready for it. >> that's going to do it for us on a saturday morning. >> we'll see you tomorrow. right back here. have a great day, everyone.

>> good morning and welcome to 11 news saturday morning. i'm jennifer franciotti. >> i'm lisa robinson. here's a look at some top stories. a real life scare at a popular haunted attraction in baltimore county friday night. reports started coming in just after 9:00 last night, bringing hazmat crews to kim's crypt. authorities say a small amount of formaldehyde spilled causing six employees to be take ton the hospital. bte said it has restored power to nearly everyone whose lights went out during the storm. and that includes residents along snow road in edgewood. a historic tree fell on power lines there and left homeowners in the dark.

utility said they have restored power to nearly 350,000 customers since the storm began and at last check fewer than 200 remain without power. maryland voters turned out in record numbers on this final day of early voting. voters in baltimore city reported wait times from 45 minutes to three hours or more. according to state election officials an estimated 92,000 people voted just yesterday and an estimated total of 415,655 so far. time right now 8:57. it is chilly and windy. here's what's next at 11 news saturday morning. >> an early morning sexual assault has fells point residents on edge. what police know so far in the investigation. that's next. and are you looking for a new doctor? baltimore magazine is out with their top doctors issue. they're finding out what they're putting on that list. that's coming up. as far as the weather's concerned, yes, still chilly out there. won't see a big change in that

for awhile. there are changes coming in that

>> welcome to 11 news saturday morning. i'm lisa robinson. >> i'm jennifer franciotti. we'll get to top stories in just a minute but first we're gonna check in with john. seems like we've skipped fall and w